Temples host Seder suppers

Passover, the eight-day remembrance of the Jewish exodus from slavery in Egypt, is generally observed among family, but local temples also offer community services. Temple Bat Yahm in Newport Beach will hold a Seder tonight, offering the elaborate ceremonial meal between services.

“The celebration is generally home-oriented rather than synagogue-oriented,” said Bill Shane, executive director for the temple. “However, we are having a celebration at the synagogue for those who don’t have a place to go.”

Shane, who will lead the temple services, sees them as honoring not only the Jewish people’s freedom from bondage, but also the global concept of human rights.

“This is a positive experience, not a super-solemn holiday,” Shane said. “It is much more upbeat than, say, Yom Kippur, which is spent fasting and reflecting.”

Temple Isaiah in Newport Beach held a Seder on Wednesday, drawing a gathering of 80.

For the temple’s Rabbi Marc Rubenstein, the idea of freedom and slavery applies to all people at all times in history.

“We are stressing the idea of freedom and trying to relate to what the Jews went through, when they came out of Egypt, [to] ? people suffering all around the world,” Rubenstein said. “We are looking at our present and our future from our past, and the lessons we have learned.”

Temple Isaiah’s Seder meal focused on the traditional symbols of Passover, which represent the story of the journey of Jewish slaves. According to the Exodus account, when the Jewish people fled Egypt, they had little time to prepare food and so made bread without yeast, fleeing with a flat bread, matzo, which they ate for eight days.

House cleaning takes on a large role in Passover. Families eradicate all traces of leavened foods ? including sandwich breads and pizza crusts ? from the home.

Charoset ? a paste of apples, raisins walnuts and other ingredients ? represents the mortar and bricks the Jewish people used while slaves in Egypt. For Rubenstein, the symbolism applies to contemporary life in Southern California.

“Technically, a lot of us are slaves, and we have to come unglued to enjoy the freedoms of today,” he said.